Most refugees have to shift and alter their lives to survive because war is so common in today's society. Even women and children are not exempt from the ravages of war. This is generated in the story, "My Parents Bedroom," where the author, Uwem Akpan explains in a first person's point of view a cultural clash in the main character's country. The author focuses on the genocide in Rwanda, which created a clash between cultures. Akpan reveals that the main character, Monique, faces hardships and difficulty in understanding her parent's fears. Similarly, in the "Lost Boys of Sudan," Sara Corbett interviews a group of boy refugee that attained political asylum in the USA. These boys expressed to Corbett their experiences, fears, and concerns. …show more content…
The boys are so traumatized that the adjustment to emotional identities were difficult. The personal approach and objectivity of the stories manifest the effects of war creates widespread fear and devastation in the minors. As a result of the minors experiencing this at a young age, they are destined to trauma as they become adults. In the two stories, because the characters are young, war permanently associates the characters with devastation and widespread fear. In the midst of the two cultures clashing, the villagers spared no lives, not even children. Akpan explains, "A third voice, a fourth, a fifth, a child's --- it sounds like Helene. Before I can say anything, Papa says, "Shenge, forget about that Twa girl"(60). War affects children worse than it affects adults. Monique loses her mother and subsequently her father. Losing Helene can lead to lasting attachment problems. In addition, it can lead to anxiety because she does not know whom she will lose next. While interviewing Phillip, he explains the hardships trying to escape the Ethiopian border. He says, "Three drowned and one was eaten by a crocodile,"... then he gestured towards James, a quick-to-smile, gap-toothed boy sitting across the room. "He was with me then," Phillip said. "He is like my brother now" (Corbett 70). Although, Phillip voices the story in an indifferent tone, because he is still a child there is still fear behind his explanation. Both authors illustrate through gripping innocent perspectives how the war forced both characters to be individualistic. Although, Phillip gained a brother after the journey, during the journey he had to leave people behind as Monique did. The characters are not physically harmed, but the war signifies a spiritual withdrawal that creates devastation and fear. The effects of war is implied by highlighting the devastation through perspective and journalism.
After the massacre inside of Monique's house, the scene slowly started to change Monique's nature and her perspective. Monique gained insight about her new country, "Everywhere is dark, and the wind spread black clouds like blankets across the sky" (Akpan 66). In the perspective, Monique is still a child, so words such as "dark" and "black" suggests something bad has happened or death. Similarly, in "Lost Boys of Sudan," the possibilities of returning home will be forever rejected because of the dangers of the war. Corbett states, "Arguably, whether the parents are living or not, most of the Lost Boys have no choice but to move on. A return to southern Sudan would be dangerous if not fatal. "There is nothing left for the Lost Boys to go home to--it's a war zone," says Mary Anne Fitzgerald, in Nairobi-based relief consultant who spent three years reporting on the Lost Boys' plight for Refugees International"(72). Similarly, through the personal approach of Monique's description of the after effect of destruction, using words such as "dark" and "black" suggest death. That correlates with the Lost Boys and the journalistic approach, mentioning, "whether their parents are living or not... [They] have no choice but to move on" and there's no home for them to go back to. The destruction of the war has shattered both Monique’s and the Lost Boys world, a world they can't go back too. Therefore, the people that are closest to them, they can no longer communicate with. Whether they are alive or not, figuratively they are dead. The consistent use of negative words in these texts, presented through Monique and the consultant, emphasizes that the effects of war causes great
devastation. Explicitly, both authors speculates that the minors are destined to experience trauma, as they become adults. The children will soon foreshadow the trauma they experienced as children in their future. After Monique’s father murdered her mother, she is told to go outside, while outside she sees people that are of similar culture as her mother. "Like another football fan club, they’re chanting about how they’re going to kill Papa’s people. Some of them have guns. If Papa could not spare Maman’s life, would my relatives spare mine? Or my brother’s?"(Akpan 65). The war shaken Monique’s confidence. Monique is likely to experience as an adult persistent grief because of the lack of trust and reassurance she had as a child. Monique’s capacity to differentiate between genuine threats and neutral situations as a child can continue as an adult. Corbett reported as the Lost Boys had other Lost boys visiting them: "The two stood momentarily cheek to cheek in the entryway’s stark light, with Sunday in a scuffed baseball cap and Peter in his African garb. “It’s a hard life here," Sunday whispered to the other boy, "but it’s a free life too" (73). These are children, traumatized by the war. Peter Dut saying, "It’s a hard life here," speculates that the Lost Boys are so traumatized by their circumstances that their future would be dark. Since the characters in the story are so young, the traumatizing experience will likely imprint on them than older people. Both Monique and the Lost Boys chronic exposure to the war can be detrimental to their emotional health because it can form conditioned responses. Holistically, being a child in or coming from a war-torn country can be challenging. A child takes longer to understand things and have higher emotions than an adult. Monique and the Lost Boys are so alike not only by age range, but their experiences. Giving the peculiar circumstance, one significant difference between the boys and Monique is that the boys had each other as support. Respectively, the personal narration of the children created a certain level of raw innocence. The true effect of war sits on the Monique and the Lost Boys lips.
The main character in Behind The Bedroom Wall was Korinna. At first Korinna was a pure anti Jew. She was anti semitic because the people in her youth group brainwashed her to think that Jews caused all the problems in Germany. When Korena found out her parents were hiding Jews, at first she was horrified. But she on grew to love the Jews. This happened because Korinna’s kitten crawled behind the bedroom wall to the Jewish family, the Krugmann's, Korinna didn't like that the kitten was with the Jews so she grabbed the kitten and acted hurtful toward the Jews. Later that day she realized she was wrong and gave back the kitten and said sorry. Another way that Korinna changed is that Korinna now felt sorry for Rachel (the
...the novel Mrs. Ross and Robert are both left blind representing a physical embodiment of their discontent with the world. The tragic misfortunes they have witnessed throughout the novel culminated into an overwhelming darkness they have welcomed. Timothy Findley teaches the reader through Mrs. Ross, that the repercussions of the death of just one person, like Monty Miles, can traumatize a person forever. Mrs. Ross further emphasizes the holistic effect of war, especially on the families watching the doors for their sons return. Hence, Mrs. Ross’s relationship with her son throughout the course of the book, teaches us what it means to truly appreciate life. We sometimes look at war with a scope that does not allow us to comprehend what the loss of life truly means. However, in this novel we learn that life is truly sacred, especially in the eyes of a loving mother.
“She wakes to the sound of breathing. The smaller children lie tangled beside her, their chests rising and falling under winter coats and wool blankets. A few feet away, their mother and father sleep near the mop bucket they use as a toilet. Two other children share a mattress by the rotting wall where the mice live, opposite the baby, whose crib is warmed by a hair dryer perched on a milk crate.” (Elliot, pg.1) Dasini, an 11 year old child, lives a arduous life with her family in the projects outside New York City. The article, Invisible Child, written by Andrea Elliott, successfully portrays the difficulties Dasini and her family endure on a daily basis.
The first chapter of Assia Djebar’s novel, Children of the New World, is split into two parts. The first part is a background into the setting of the novel. The novel is based on the time period when the Algerians were at war with the French in the 1950’s in what is now called the Algerian War. The narrator first describes what it is like for women when neighboring villages were under attack. They try to stay safe by hiding in the backrooms of their house. There they try to hide what is going on outside from the children while at the same time watch what is happening. They would dream of a time when the war was over. The narrator quotes a woman whispering, “’The end,’ someone whispers, and then recites verses from the Koran to ward off bad luck. ‘That will be a marvelous awakening, a deliverance.’” They could be stuck there for days depending on how long the attack is. Even in their houses though, they were not safe. Occasionally, bomb fragments could end up on the terrace and destroy parts of their home. They also were not safe because if the attack was on their own village, the military would set every house on fire until the village was burnt to the ground and there was no way to find refugee from this.
Rothe, Eugenio M. "A Psychotherapy Model For Treating Refugee Children Caught In The Midst Of Catastrophic Situations." Journal Of The American Academy Of Psychoanalysis & Dynamic Psychiatry 36.4 (2008): 625-642. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 May 2014.
Throughout Anh Do’s autobiography ‘The Happiest Refugee’ he expresses his values and attitudes towards the fulfilling journey he has been on. He shows his courage, determination and step up bravery throughout numerous heart pounding situations he is faced with in the fiction based novel. Anh do has an exceptional ability to adapt to ever-changing situations, a lack of self-pity and always shows resilience to everything he deals
The three sources Behind the Bedroom Wall, by Laura Williams, “Survivors of the Holocaust,” and “Last Letters of the Holocaust: 1941,” all have characters and people who realize that through catastrophic events, that family is very valuable in order to surpass discrimination. In “Behind the Bedroom Wall” the characters Korinna and her mom learn that they have to understand each other and cope with each other believes in order to get through this tough time. Korinna had to open her eyes to what is really happening in order to realize the true situation. For everyone this is a very emotional time for everyone because that nobody really knew what was happening or how to fix it, they were all just trying to fit into what they were supposed to
In an article about refugee children in Canada, the authors state “The community...play[s] a crucial role in assisting and supporting children to adjust and integrate into… society.” (Fantino & Colak). This quote demonstrates that with the community’s consistent support, refugees can have a sense of belonging in their new homes, which can be extremely important while trying to acclimate to society. In Inside Out and Back Again, Há says “She says it over and over like a chant, slowly. Slowly the screams that never stopped inside my head turned to a real whisper” (Lai 210) while describing the actions of Mrs. Washington, a neighbor and role model of Há’s. Mrs. Washington played an important part in Há becoming used to Alabama, clearly demonstrated when she helped Há calm down after she was bullied and disrespected by Pink Boy after school. Due to Mrs. Washington’s actions, Há could feel more supported during her struggle against the bully, and in turn she could feel like she was “Back Again” in her new environment. Há says in one of her poems that “Before school our cowboy shows up… he whispers to Mother and Brother Quang” (Lai 203). After being bullied, her family’s sponsor finally gives her support by trying to fight back against Pink Boy. Though this action doesn’t help Há at the the time, it helps Há feel like she is supported during her adjustment. This support, in addition to the support given by Mrs. Washington, results in Há feeling like she belongs, which helps her make it through her difficult journey of adjusting to Western society. The more support evacuees receive from their host communities, the easier life becomes for them and the more comfortable they become, which results in positive adjustment to their new
Without freedom, the urge to escape is prevalent. When a lady’s husband is too overprotective and smothers his wife, she may eventually end up running away from her problems. In the play, A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen, and in the story, The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the main characters, feel trapped by their husbands. Both of these stories demonstrate that during the time period that the stories were written, some men behaved in an authoritarian manner which caused stress and trauma to women. The women in these stories each take drastic action.
I was in the car with my friend and we were listening to Tiesto and we were living the part, singing along and clapping as if we were in some concert in Las Vegas. Truth was, we were in Ashrafeye and we were just passing time until we went home. While rocking around, a sudden knock on the window startled me and I looked out to see a woman holding a child. This woman looked young, maybe no more than 21 and she had a small girl in her hand. I opened the window and she started begging for money. I had seen many fair shares of beggars before but what struck me about this girl was that she was almost my age, and was also a Syrian. This girl…. Could be my sister. I suddenly thought how scared this girl must be, living in a terrible conditions away from her country, and on top of that being forced to beg for money and food. This girl is doing this mostly not for herself but for her baby child, for whom she is willing to die. The story of this girl is very similar to the poem of Mahmoud Darwish “A Gentle Rain in a Distant Autumn” in that poem the poet is describing how he left his country and he was then searching for a new reasons to die, in that poor girl case the reason to die for was her small child. The author also quoted “form the country that slaughtered me” and by this he is referring to his own country. This is very much similar to this girls story by which the war that happened in her country, my country, slaughtered her and made
In 1879, Henrik Ibsen wrote A Doll’s House (The). Symbolism, the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities, was developed within this time period (Google).Throughout the play, Ibsen reveals each character with an internal personality totally different from their external personality. This allows the readers to really open up and understand each character and the relationships that they hold with their self and the other characters as well. Ibsen tends to use several symbols in his play including the main character herself, the dance she performs, the Christmas tree, and the macaroons her husband doesn’t allow her to have. Nora is unhappy with her life, as though her expressions and actions show otherwise. She grows to realize her problem and settles with the idea that she never will be. Several symbols are made to stand out but four more particularly than others.
The article, “Toddler’s image stops us in our tracks,” written on September 2015 by Beth-Giat reported a horrible tragedy to hit a family. Ben-Ghiat wrote, “Images of migrants’ suffering, and of humanitarian rescue, have filled our news for more than a year now. They have become such a common sight in the media that we hardly see them. Then, one image comes along that stops us in our tracks: a toddler, lying dead on beach in Turkey.” Ben-Ghiat says that people have grown used to the tragedies, but those images of the child lying on the beach, touches even the toughest person at the core. The image is painful to watch. Imagine if that was someone familiar. The child’s mother and and brother died as well. The only surviving member of the family, the child’s father, brought their bodies from Turkey back to the the city the family fled from for burial. The journey doesn 't always have a happy
A Doll 's house is one of the modern works that Henrik Ibsen wrote. He was called the father of modern drama .He was famous for writing plays that related to real life. A Doll 's House is a three-act play that discusses the marriage in the 19th century. It is a well-made play that used the first act as an exposition. The extract that will be analyzed in the following paragraphs is a dialogue between Nora and the nurse that takes care of her children. This extract shows how she was afraid not only of Krogstad blackmail, but also of Torvald 's point of view about those who committed any mistake. Torvald says that the mothers who tell lies should not bring up children as they are not honest . Nora is also lying to her family and to Torvald. So she is afraid because she thinks she maybe 'poisoning ' her own children. The analysis of this extract will be about of Nora 's character, the theme, and the language in A Doll 's House.
The play “A Doll House” by Henrik Ibsen starts in the Helmer’s home on Christmas Eve. At the beginning of the play, the audience is introduced to Nora Helmer, the woman of the household. Nora is completely delighted with her life, and feels favorable for the way her life is coming along. She looks forward to the New Year when her husband starts his new job as a bank manager, where he will “have a big salary and earn lots and lots of money” (Ibsen 1350). Torvald Helmer, her husband, teases her and treats her like a child who is incapable. Nora responds to her husband’s actions with pure affection and does not seem to mind her controlled doll-like life. In the play Ibsen creates the setting in the late 1800s where women took care of the household, family, and children. Men saw women as delicate, innocent, unknowledgeable, and uneducated in the business world. Symbolism plays a large role in comprehending the play. The Christmas tree, the Tarantella, and the New Year are symbols that unveil the life of the characters and what they stand for.
In the poem Refugee mother and child written by Chinua Achebe and Refugees written by Kapka Kassabova, an important idea of loss is conveyed by using interesting language techniques such as simile, alliteration and metaphor. They both link to the idea of the abstract loss and Achebe, itself, links to physical loss.